In formal phonological theories the phonetic form was derived from an abstract underlying form through context-driven rewriting rules. In recent years, however, the Optimality Theory, a theory matching an input to its corresponding output through various constraints, has aroused the interest of phonologists. According to the Optimality Theory a function Gen generates an infinite set of candidates from an underlying representation and a function Eval chooses the winning candidate which satisfies the language particular constraint hierarchy.
This paper analyzes Japanese verb forms by applying the Optimality Theory and shows how the method of analysis differs from conventional ones.